President Pedro Castillo Terrones was summoned to testify on May 16 at ten in the morning in the investigation led by prosecutor Luz Taquire Reynoso, of the Seventh Office of the Second Supraprovincial Corporate Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Money Laundering Crimes. The official is in charge of the effective collaboration of the businesswoman and lobbyist Karelim Lopez Arredondoa case where former secretary Bruno Pacheco and others involved are also included.
According to the document in which Taquire quotes Castillo and to which this newspaper accessed, it is sought that the head of state declare about “the facts subject to investigation in relation to the investigated Bruno Arnulfo Pacheco Castillo and others, as well as any other information that is relevant.
The summons also specifies that the prosecutor thereby seeks to obtain more elements of conviction “as well as schedule various proceedings to clarify the facts subject to analysis.” It is thus expected that in the following days the Public Ministry will schedule other witness statements or issue other provisions regarding the investigation.
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“On Thursday I met with prosecutor Luz Taquire. She received me and I presented our point of view regarding the investigation, nothing more. We are going to proceed in accordance with the law with this tax summons,” Castillo’s lawyer, Eduardo Pachas Palacios, said in communication with La República.
It should be noted in this regard that the tax summons also indicates to officiate at the presidential office that Castillo can specify whether he will testify at his home, at his office in the Government Palace or any other place of his choice.
So far, given that Castillo already has an investigation open in the National Prosecutor’s Office for the Provías case (legal benefit to the Puente Tarata III Consortium in San Martín) and Petroperú (irregular purchase of biodiesel in favor of businessman Samir Abudayeh) given his status as a high-ranking official, the office of prosecutor Luz Taquire has summoned the head of state as a witness.
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The actual corruption cases, which directly or indirectly involve Pedro Castillo, are being handled by a supreme prosecutor. Pablo Sanchez Velardenew prosecutor of the Nation, however, You can re-evaluate the previous decision of your predecessor Zoraida Ávalos that decided to postpone the start of proceedings against Castillo until the end of his term in 2026.
Defense denies plagiarism
In the last week, the Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation against President Pedro Castillo Terrones and First Lady Lilia Paredes for alleged irregularities in his master’s thesis which he exhibited at the César Vallejo University in 2011.
The Turnitin anti-plagiarism software thus detected 54% of coincidences in the work presented by the presidential couple with others that were not their authorship. The crimes being investigated are alleged plagiarism, generic falsehood and improper payment.
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In this regard, Castillo’s lawyer also argued for this note: “Articles 21 and 25 of the 2008 internal regulations of the César Vallejo University indicate that the thesis advisor is responsible in similar cases. Note that the one who directs the supervision is the advisor. I do not accept what is indicated of moral or ethical errors as if it were dishonest conduct by the president.”
“An ethics committee has been formed at the university, made up of the academic vice-chancellor Heraclio Campana, who said that the student was responsible. You have not read the regulations of your university. He wants to blame everything on Castillo. This commission is made up of masters and doctors who have obtained their degrees at the UCV itself. The theses of the members of that Commission must be passed through Turnitin, because one of them has two doctorates (…) The vice-rector cannot advance an opinion if he is just going to investigate. He does not respect the presumption of innocence,” he added.
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Karelim López Arredondo: effective collaborator
The investigation opened by prosecutor Luz Taquire for money laundering covers the discovery of US$20,000 in Bruno Pacheco’s office in November 2021, as well as the party with the musical band “Grupo 5” that was held for the daughter of the former official in Cieneguilla, which was also attended by Karelim López Arredondo and the former manager of Petroperú Hugo Chávez Arévalo.
In addition, López has declared as an effective collaborator since February that Pedro Castillo would have led a criminal organization in the MTC. His statements have served to dictate preventive detention in the Provías case to Pacheco, the nephews of Castillo Fray Vásquez and Gian Castillo, as well as Zamir Villaverde and other former officials. “On Thursday, the prosecutor Taquire received me and I presented our position to her,” said Castillo’s lawyer.
